Legal sports betting in Illinois has been growing at a steady rate since the market was legalized in July 2021. The first sportsbook in Wisconsin later opened its doors in November in Green Bay at the Oneida Casino. Since then, the number of options for punters in Wisconsin has increased, giving bettors in the region more variety than ever before.
This year will represent the first full NFL season that sports wagering will be permitted in the state. This has resulted in big business for the operators. However, there has been a lot of competition coming from across the border in Illinois.
Since the Oneida Casino welcome its first round of punters, the brick-and-mortar casino has been waiting eagerly for the start of the NFL season. Although the casino has been in business for a while now, the operators of the casino have admitted that things have been more challenging than earlier anticipated partly due to the intense competition from the much more established Illinois gambling market.
Although punters in Illinois have more options than ever before, the situation in Wisconsin is quite different. The gambling options in Wisconsin remain limited to tribal lands. At present, punters are only legally allowed to wager near Green Bay or at Turtle Lake in the St. Croix Casino. That means that for punters situated in Milwaukee, the closest and most sensible betting option is across the state in Illinois.
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Illinois offers more variety for punters
Not too long ago, Hard Rock International announced that it was collaborating with the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin to debit a casino in southeastern Wisconsin. This new casino is going to be situated close to the Illinois state line, which might further threaten the much older Illinois gambling market.
Hard Rock and the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin announced their partnership in late July intending to open a new casino facility in Kenosha. This isn’t the Menominee Tribe’s first attempt to open a new casino in the area. In 2015, the tribe unsuccessfully attempted to debut a new off-reservation casino located at the Dairyland Greyhound Park dog track.
However, the petition to open this new casino was rejected by the then Governor of Wisconsin Scott Walker. The petition was rejected in part because the state would have been forced to pay refund payments to the Potawatomi Tribe should the Kenosha Casino have opened its doors. The Potawatomi Tribe also operates a casino, which is located 40 miles north of Kenosha.
For a new casino operated by the tribe to open in Kenosha, it must receive several approvals including from the City, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Kenosha County, the Department of the Interior, as well as the Governor of Wisconsin. Hard Rock and Menominee Tribe have enjoyed a longstanding strategic partnership for years and will assist the Tribe in its efforts to introduce a world-class gambling facility and resort to Kenosha residents.
The village of Bristol has already voted to sell a 60-acre piece of land owned by the city to an affiliate of Hard Rock. The parcel of land situated just west of Interstate 94 and less than 10 miles away from the Illinois border was purchased for approximately $15.2 million.
Once the casino in Kenosha has been completed, Hard Rock will effectively have a strong presence in both Illinois and Wisconsin. Hard Rock opened its temporary casino in Rockford in 2021 while its permanent location is expected to welcome its first round of guests in the fall of 2023.
Since the temporary casinos were opened, it has continued to perform impressively well and has surpassed the expectation set at the launch. Recently in August, the temporary Hard Rock casino in Rockford set a new record for the highest number of visitors in a month. Based on reports acquired from the Illinois Gaming Commission, the temporary location at Rockford attracted 45,000 guests in July 2022, which is the highest number of guests that the casino has welcomed since it debuted last November.
Last June, the Illinois Gaming Board also shared that the temporary casino in Rockford had managed to generate more than $30 million in just the first 6 months of being in business. This resulted in taxes worth approximately $1.8 million being generated for the city of Rockford. Based on the state’s betting law, 70% of the tax revenue generated is sent to the city while 20% is sent to Winnebago County.
Hard Rock’s temporary betting facility is situated at Giovanni’s Restaurant and Convention Center. The 21,000-square-foot facility cost approximately $8 million to construct and features more than 600 slot machines and table games. To expand its services, Hard Rock has also been eyeing the launch of a new sportsbook at the temporary venue, which is expected to launch before the end of the year.
Meanwhile, the construction of the permanent facility in Rockford is ongoing and is scheduled to open its doors in the next 2 years. The casino project is expected to cost the city approximately $310 million and will be located at the old Clock Tower Resort. So far, the project has created hundreds of construction jobs and is estimated to create at least 1200 positions when it is officially opened to the public.
Across the border in Illinois, construction is also ongoing for a new casino by Full House Resorts. Full House has been constructing a temporary casino in Waukegan dubbed the Temporary by America Palace that will help to cater to the punter’s needs before the permanent casino facility can be set up.
Circa Sports and Full House announced their agreement to partner up earlier this May thus allowing the Vegas-based sportsbook to enter the Illinois sports betting market. Circa already has a presence in several states including Iowa, Nevada, and Colorado. Circa Sports will operate the retail sportsbook in a temporary location before consequently launching mobile betting.
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The Full House Waukegan location is only one of the 6 new casinos that have already been granted licenses thanks to the gaming expansion bill that was signed into law by Governor JB Pritzker in 2019.
